Cochise
by psychic soul
Summary: (Sequel to Number 1 Zero. Will make sense without reading the first story. ) The Titans are brought into another adventure into a future where nothing is what it seems. In a world where evil is a relative term, who can they really trust? What are the future ones really hiding? The line between good and evil will once again be blurred in this thrilling sequel. R&R.
1. Intro

**COCHISE**

_*intro*_

_- Audioslave_

* * *

_7 years ago..._

The sun was shining brightly in the sky, in the sea of light blue shades and white puffy clouds. It was a beautiful day in Jump City, the sunlight spreading warmth to the world while the cool winds kept everything chilly. Underneath all that beauty was Raven, the lone Titan, floating above the ground as she continued on with her morning meditation. She looked calm and collected as she whispered her mantra, letting the breeze carry her soft voice in the wind.

But this calm could only last for so long, as she heard the early morning ruckus from her other teammates. Beastboy and Cyborg were on the couch, playing with their latest video game. Robin and Starfire were in one corner of the common room, cuddling and being so sweet to one another, ants were about to crawl up on them. Unable to shut out the noise anymore, she decided to open her eyes and finally end her morning meditation session.

Though she looked so calm and at peace on the outside, deep within her was a horrible mess of emotions. Ever since Starfire and Robin decided to become a couple, she has been having a hard time controlling her emotions, especially toward a certain masked Boy Wonder. She knew she felt something more for her best friend, but she decided not to act on those feelings, seeing as he was happy with the alien princess. They were perfect for each other, as everyone said, and Raven couldn't agree more. Who would want a half-blooded demoness like her, anyway?

With a defeated sigh, she was about to teleport into the common room for some tea when she suddenly felt a powerful surge of energy behind her. She turned around to see a portal open right before her very eyes. She couldn't even contain her surprise when suddenly; someone came out of the portal. He looked like a large person, with half of his body made of metal and the other half was human. He slowly collapsed to the ground but Raven used her powers to catch his fall. It was only then that she got a good look at the man who came out of the portal. And her eyes widened when she finally realized who it was.

* * *

"Has anyone seen Raven?" Robin suddenly asked out of the blue.

"She went up the roof to meditate." Beastboy answered, not even looking away from the TV screen. "She always does that around this time."

"Yeah but she should be down here by now to make her tea." Robin interjected. "I wonder if something's come up with-"

Before he could finish his statement, a black raven suddenly came down from the roof, which dispersed to reveal Raven and someone else on the floor.

"Raven, what's going on?" Robin asked in a rush as he approached the two huddled in the common room.

"He came out of a portal behind me." She replied, as blue light was spreading from her fingertips.

Robin's eyes widened with what he saw. He instantly recognized the man that Raven was healing. But how could that be possible, when he was just behind him?

The other Titans rushed to their side, wanting to know what had happened. "Robin, who's she with?" Cyborg asked worriedly as he approached the two. Starfire and Beastboy were close behind, floating just above the group.

Robin slowly turned to them with wide eyes, as he said the most puzzling answer they had ever heard: "You."

The other Titans pushed past him to see what he was talking about, and they couldn't believe their eyes when they did see Cyborg lying down on the ground as Raven was healing him. But this version of the Cyborg was different. He seemed older, more worn out, and with different cybernetic enhancements on his body. The bulky blue parts of his body were now leaner, and made of a silver color. But still, his presence did not make any sense to the Titans. If they had a Cyborg here, then who was Raven healing at that very moment?

As if to answer their question, the cybernetic man's eyes suddenly flew open, as he got up from the floor. Raven suddenly pulled back her healing hands, surprised by his sudden movement.

"Where am I?" The other Cyborg asked, looking at his surroundings.

"You're in Titans Tower dude." Beastboy replied, still without a clue as to what they should think of this mystery man.

The other Cyborg finally looked at the faces of those around him, instantly recognizing them at first glance. A wave of nostalgia passed through his half-metal heart and it was taking all of his strength not to run to them and wrap them in a giant bear hug, with tears running down his human eye.

"I did it." He muttered to himself as he gazed on the faces of his past friends.

"Wait I'm sorry but do you mind telling us what is going on around here? Who are you and what are you doing in our Tower?" Robin asked, breaking the sentimental mode that he was in.

The older Cyborg looked irritated at the leader, remembering everything that he had done in the past. He let out a breath to calm himself down, before finally answering their question. "As you might have guessed, I am Cyborg. Victor Stone, from the future. 7 years ahead of your time. And I've come here to ask for your help."

The other Titans stood around him, eagerly listening to what he had to say. "You see," he continued, seeing as he had their attention, "the future that I come from is a dark place. Evil has finally reined supreme, and even the greatest heroes have fallen against this evil. We've become so desperate that we've come to the past because we need your help. The Titans of the future have gone their separate ways, and we have to come together to even hope of defeating the evil that has ruled over our land."

"So, you're asking us to come with you to the future, to defeat an unbeatable threat?

But what makes you think that we can beat him when all the other heroes have failed?" Robin asked skeptically.

The older Cyborg paused for a moment, making sure he said the right words to the past Titans.

"Because we have faced the impossible before. We have saved the world time and time again. And once more, the world needs our help. May it be from a different time, but the same world needs our help. We are the only ones left standing. The only ones left to fight for freedom and justice."

"But you do realize the consequences of your actions, right?" Raven suddenly said, speaking up for the first time in this situation. "If we do agree to help you in this, it would mean irreparable damage to the space-time continuum. There's a reason why people don't just go back or go forward in time. The results could be catastrophic. If you are asking us to do this, then that means that the threat is so great, that you have no other choice but to risk destroying the very fabric of time just to save the future."

Everyone fell silent with what Raven said. They all knew that she was the one person who understood exactly what was going on here, and what the ramifications of their actions would be. They weren't sure if they could trust the person that was before them, even if he did say that he was Cyborg's future self.

"Yes." He finally replied to Raven's question. "Yes I know the damages of my actions. Yes I know that I might just very well be tearing right through the fabric of time. But frankly, if you have been to the future, you will see that those consequences are nothing compared to the tyranny that we have been facing. That's how desperate we all are. And that's how much the future needs you."

"Yeah but wouldn't it be better to like get Batman or Superman of our time? They can probably do a better job than us." Beastboy suggested, as he did his best to comprehend everything that was happening.

The future Cyborg bowed his head down at the changeling's question, as if it struck a chord in his half-metal heart. "Because," he slowly replied, in a tone more somber than before, "this is a threat that only we can defeat." He gazed at them then, with a burning determination in his heart. "So, will you help us?"

"You'd understand if we talk about this first amongst ourselves?" Robin asked, as he motioned his teammates to gather around him.

"Of course" Future Cyborg politely said, stepping out of way of earshot.

The Titans huddled around together in a farther corner of the room, trying to decide on what they should do.

"We should trust what future me is saying. If all of the heroes from their time are defeated, then the enemy surely won't expect us." Cyborg began, voicing his support for his other self.

"I think he needs us to get our future selves to help. He did say that the Titans of the future were already separated. Maybe he thinks we can bring us all together." Robin added.

"Cool! It'll be like the future and the past Titans coming together to beat the bad guy!

That would be so awesome!" Beastboy shouted out.

"But friends, we do not know what we will be going up against. What if it is a foe even we can not handle?" Starfire asked, with worry in her voice.

"Starfire is right. And our presence there could destroy reality, as we know it. Time travel is a very dangerous thing and its results are always unpredictable." Raven advised, being the most knowledgeable about the consequences of their actions.

"But future me seems pretty convinced that it's worth the risk. So I think we don't have to worry about the fabric of reality, but more about if we're willing to fight this threat or not."

The Titans paused from their musings to think about it, weighing their options and trying to decide what the best option would be for themselves.

"Let's just put it to a vote." Robin decided, seeing as everyone was ready to make his or her decisions. "All in favor of going to the future and helping future Cyborg, raise your hands."

Cyborg, Beastboy and Starfire had their hands in the air.

"And all those who are not in favor.." Both Robin and Raven raised their hands simultaneously.

"Wait, wait. Hold up. I know why Raven is against this but why is Robin not for going to the future?"

Robin was silent for awhile, unsure of how to voice his worries to his teammates.

Finally, he simply said, "Because I can't completely trust future Cyborg. I can sense that he's hiding something from us. Something very important. No offense, Cyborg."

"None taken." the cybernetic teen quickly replied.

"I don't know what he's hiding, but I can't trust him completely without knowing what it is yet." Robin mused. "But if you guys think that we should go to the future, then I guess majority wins in this case."

"Robin's right. Despite what we may think about this, if you guys are in, then we have no choice but to follow." Raven agreed in her monotonous voice.

The other Titans nodded in agreement of what was said, finally leaving their decision as final. They approached the cybernetic man from the future as Robin said in an authoritative voice,"We've decided to help you."

Future Cyborg jumped up from his seat in the couch, showing how happy he was with their decision. "Great! We should leave right now, and I'll bring you back right at this moment so it was like you didn't even leave this time."

"Alright just tell us what to do and we'll be ready." The Titans stood around their leader, waiting for instructions that would lead them into the future.

But Robin instantly knew something was up when the cybernetic man from tomorrow suddenly scowled.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked.

Future Cyborg paused for a moment, seemingly uncertain of how to reply, when he finally said, "I don't think Raven should come with us."

"And why is that?" Raven asked skeptically.

He scratched the back of his head unsurely, showing the Titans that he was struggling with what he was about to say next.

"It's just not safe for you okay?" he finally answered exasperatedly. "You should just stay here in your own time! The Titans will be back here before you know it!"

"I'm afraid that's not an option, Mr. Stone." Robin interjected in a chilling voice. "The Titans stick together. If one of us stays, we all stay. If one of us goes, then we all go. Plus, Raven is the most powerful among us. If you need someone to defeat your evil dictator, then she is the most capable person to do so."

The other Titans nodded in agreement, sticking even closer to Raven, as if to show their support for her.

Future Cyborg let out a sigh, knowing when he was defeated. He looked at Robin knowingly, wishing he had seen the signs before, so he wouldn't have been surprised when it happened. He already made sure that he went back in time right before the explosion, right before the time that Slade took Robin (1) but he silently accepted the fact that he couldn't account for every possibility. Still, he was greatly outnumbered and though this would affect his plans greatly, he had no choice but to bring Raven into the future. Even if…

He drew closer to the dark Titan, as if there was something else on his mind. He pushed her purple hair back, tucking behind her ear as he whispered to her, "Are you sure you want to do this? Can you go into the future, despite the truth that may come your way?"

Raven gave a puzzled look toward the older Titan, not quite understanding what he was saying. But as she was never the one to back down from a threat, she stood her ground and confidently replied, "I defeated the great Lord Trigon and saved the world countless of times. Whatever truth is waiting for me there, I know I can handle it."

Cyborg simply nodded his head, silently respecting Raven's bravery and courage. He stood in the middle of the Titans as he started pressing a few buttons on his arm, starting up the time machine that was connected to his body. The group was suddenly surrounded by a white light, while they heard a whirring sound all around them.

"I hope you'll still be saying that when we finally get there." was the last thing Cyborg said before the white light engulfed them all, and they disappeared from their present time.

* * *

_7 years into the future__… _

The Titans suddenly ended up in the middle of a busy street, somewhere in Jump City. The time-displaced teens looked around and saw that things haven't changed that much since their previous time. There were newer buildings and structures all around them, but things were still very much the same. There were no flying cars or hi-tech gadgets around. What was different for them was how the city seemed so clean and orderly. There was no litter or trash anywhere, cars and pedestrians were following traffic rules, without fear that danger might befall on them. It was as if they came right into Utopia.

"Uhh.. Future Cyborg dude… are you sure we're in the right time?" Beastboy asked unsurely as he looked around.

"Yeah, I don't see any evil crazy dictator anywhere…" the younger Cyborg added.

But just as he said those words, a horde of robots suddenly surrounded the group.

They looked a lot like Sladebots, but with a sleeker design and a blue color scheme, with electronic bo-staffs in their hands.

"Victor Stone, you are placed under arrest for crimes against the city and against the _Master_." one of the robots said, as they pointed their bo-staffs toward the Titans.

"Okay, I take back what I just said." Cyborg suddenly blurted out in a nervous rush.

The other Titans readied themselves in a defensive stance, to protect themselves just in case the robots began their attack.

"Wait." an authoritative voice suddenly called out from nowhere. A black bolt of energy came down from the sky and crashed in front of them, revealing what seemed to be the leader of the robots. He was a man in his late 20s, with short black hair covering his masked face, muscles straining through his tight fitting suit, with a red bird emblem on his chest.

"Haven't you caused enough trouble already, Cyborg?" the masked man asked, as he stood in front of their group.

"Not as much as you have caused, _Master._" the future cybernetic man answered as he aimed his sonic cannon right at the man.

But he did not take notice of any of this as he stared wide-eyed at those around his enemy. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the younger versions of the Teen Titans, standing right before him. He could recognize them all: Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, Beastboy and…

"Raven…" he breathed out, staring right at the empath before turning toward the cybernetic man in question. "Cyborg, what have you done?"

But he was too busy whispering an escape plan to Raven to hear the question directed at him. "Raven, teleport us out of here right now!"

"But I don't know the buildings of this time! How am I supposed to know where to go?" the empath whispered back.

"Just do it!" the older Cyborg answered, before firing his sonic cannon at the masked man. He easily dodged the attack, but it bought him enough time to shout at Raven, "Now!"

She enveloped the whole group in her soul-self and turned into a giant raven, flying into the sky and leaving the street below them.

When the masked man finally recovered from the attack, he instantly realized that the group had escaped. He was filled with an unbridled fury that made him scream out in frustration, while releasing an energy blast that destroyed the army of robots with him, as well as half the city block. This left him breathing heavily, as he surveyed the scene of destruction that was all around him.

"Sir, you have to calm down." a voice said in his earpiece.

He clicked it before responding, "I know Wintergreen, I know."

"We could always track her for you, if you want." the voice in his ear suggested.

"No, that's not how I want to do this." He paused for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose with his two fingers. "Call in a conference with all the high generals. We need to assess this situation carefully, before it gets out of hand." He looked around his surroundings first, taking a look at the damage he caused before saying, "And order cleanup for Sector 1 of Jump City. Sorry about the mess." He ended apologetically.

And with that, he enveloped himself in dark energy, and disappeared into the sky.

* * *

**A/N : ****I DO NOT OWN TEEN TITANS, OR AUDIOSLAVE. ONLY MY CRAZY IMAGINATION**

**(1): From the first story.**

**So hello everyone! And welcome to the sequel to Number 1 Zero, entitled Cochise! (Another awesome Audioslave song.) If you are an old story reader, welcome back! And if you are new and haven't read Number 1 Zero yet, it's alright. We welcome you as well. You don't need to read #1Zero to understand this story, but if you are bored and have time to spare and want to read 70+ thousand words, then go ahead! :)) I can also offer Number 1 Zero in .doc and .pdf format if anyone is interested. Just PM me and I'll send you the link!**

**Btw, when I mean *intro* that just means the guitar solo at the start of the song, because it's pretty badass. **

** And I know time travel is confusing, so here is a little year guide as to what happened when :**

**These are just theoretical years, and not the actual time when these story events happen. I don't want to put years in to not mess up with continuity. So anyway:**

**- The abduction of Robin to become Slade's apprentice : This is the 7 years ago that is mentioned in this chapter. So the past Titans came from the time right before Slade took Robin as his apprentice (see Number1Zero). Let's say, this happened in 2010.**

**- The events of Number 1 Zero : It was mentioned that this happened 2 years after Robin's abduction. So let's say, this all occurred in 2012.**

**- The epilogue of Number 1 Zero : It was stated that this happened 1 year after the events of #1Zero (got tired of typing it in :)) ) So let's say it happened in 2013.**

**- The future where future Cyborg came from: It said 7 years into the future. So it happened 4 years after the epilogue. Which means that Cochise will have a lot of flashbacks, explaining the events that happened in these 4 years. So if 7 years ago was 2010, let's say Cochise events happen in 2017**

**I hope that clears things up! If it doesn't, please tell me and I will clear it up for you.**

**So like I said, the basic premise borrows a lot from the All New X-Men, in which present Beast takes the 5 original X-Men (Archangel, Iceman, Beast, Cyclops and Jean Grey) from the past and bring them to the present to stop present Cyclops from staging a mutant revolution. But they don't really do what they're supposed to do and just cause chaos and lead to the events of Battle of the Atom. (P.S. TheDreamChaser : I don't really read Marvel too, except for X-Men and Uncanny X-Force. Uncanny X-Force vol 1, the Remender run is very good, especially the Dark Angel Saga, inspired some parts of #1Zero hihi. X-Men vol 4 is pretty good too, (it's the all-girl version of X-Men).Battle of the Atom confused me too much so I don't recommend it. All New X-Men bored me but maybe you'll like it. Oh and I heard Infinity is pretty good too :) That's basically all I know. Haha. )**

** But anyway enough about that, that's the only thing that I'm borrowing from the comic. Everything else is gonna be me, and a flashback/present time telling of the story of what happened in between the epilogue and Cochise, and what's going to happen to the present, and how the Titans are going to defeat the evil dictator.**

**Speaking of which, did you guys recognize who the dictator was? Well, it's pretty obvious, but how did he do that disappearing into energy and destroying the city block thing? *gasp* well, stay tuned for more revelations in Cochise!**

**In the meantime, leave a review, tell me your thoughts if I should continue this or not. Thank you for your time and hope you enjoyed this new story! Have a nice day!:D **

**Love, **

**Psychic soul / Kate-Kane**


	2. How

**COCHISE**

"_How could you tell me that I'm great_

_When they chew me up, spit me out, pissed on me?_

_Why would you tell me that it's fate_

_When they laughed at me, every day, in my face?_

_If you're gone, then I need you_

_If you're gone, then how is any of this real?_

_When I'm on, I believe you_

_When I'm not, my knees don't even seem to feel"_

_- How, The Neighbourhood_

* * *

Fortunately for the Titans, Raven chose an abandoned building to teleport them to. They landed right into the top floor of the structure, their butts crashing down to the floor. It took them awhile to realize what had just occurred, but when they did, they saw that the building that they were in was old and worn out. It looked like it was ready for demolition already, with the thick layers of dust and sudden pops of electricity that were going around them.

"Gee Raven, you couldn't have picked a better place to drop us in?" Beastboy asked sarcastically as his butt was unceremoniously dropped on the floor.

"Oh I'm sorry. You should be thankful that I didn't leave us in the enemy headquarters." Raven snapped back, feeling a bit drained from transporting the group.

"No actually this is the perfect place. This is the building right above my secret lab. We can get to it from here." The older Cyborg said, as he slowly got up from the floor. "If we hurry there now, we can leave the city before Nightwing's forces track us down."

"Hold on." Robin said, once more in that authoritative voice, "we're not going anywhere until you tell us what's going on."

"Robin's right." Raven added, standing side-by-side with her leader. "I thought you said we were going into a dystopian society. But why does it seem to be the opposite?"

"And who was that man who attacked us awhile ago? Was he really Nightwing, like the name that you mentioned earlier?" Starfire asked, clearly with something on her mind.

The older Cyborg was caught unprepared by the barrage of questions from the younger Titans. He should have known that they wouldn't follow him blindly into the future without asking questions of their own.

"Wait Starfire, are you telling me you know who Nightwing is?" He asked, suddenly realizing what she meant by her question.

"Yes. I have met him before. Though he might have shorter hair and a different costume, I can recognize his face and voice anywhere." Starfire replied, with determination in her voice.

"You can't mean that Nightwing is-" Robin began, but was cut off by the older Cyborg's sudden realization.

"It was when you went into the future! You met him then, didn't you? But that was a different man from what you saw! This Nightwing was ruthless and without mercy. He isn't the man that you know. He isn't-"

"Wait! Can someone tell me what is going on?" Beastboy shouted out, while pulling his hair out. "You guys seem to have everything figured out while we don't know half of what it is you're saying!"

They finally looked toward the two other Titans, who seemed to be more confused than ever. They finally let out a breath to release the tension that they were feeling. Finally, it was Raven who cleared everything up for them.

"What they're arguing about, is that they know who Nightwing is. And you guys might be shocked with who it is."

"Well who is it?" Cyborg asked impatiently.

Robin let out a sigh before he finally replied, "Nightwing is me."

Cyborg and Beastboy gasped in shock at what they heard, while the others could only bow their heads down at the irony of the truth.

"Yes it is true. Remember when I shot forward in time after chasing after Warp? I remember meeting Nightwing then. But he was a crime fighter in that future, and had long hair and a blue emblem on his chest instead of the red one that we saw. But his face, his mask, his voice.. they were all the same as the man that I saw." Starfire explained.

"But how did that happen?" Beastboy asked in disbelief.

"Yes, that is actually what I want to know from Mr. Stone here." Robin added, turning toward the cybernetic man.

The other Titans looked at him expectantly as well, waiting on his explanation.

"Alright, alright. I'll tell you what you need to know." He said, with his arms raised in defeat. "It all started right in the time from where I got you guys. You see, in a few weeks time, Robin is going to be abducted by Slade. And he'll disappear for 2 years. I bet Slade has been threatening you already huh, Robin?"

The other Titans had shocked expressions on their faces as they looked toward their leader, who couldn't even meet their gazes. "He was going to hurt you all." He said, barely above a whisper.

"Yeah well that ain't exactly what happened." Cyborg suddenly said in such a bitter tone that the Titans snapped their heads toward his direction.

"So you disappeared for two years right? But you blamed us for not finding you in time, for not saving you from Slade. So two years after, you come back right? And you start attacking us all and making our lives hell cause of some strange vendetta you have against us. We even ran off to Steel City just to escape you. But then, you sent your villain henchmen to attack us, 'cause apparently you're the head of this evil corporation. You even attacked us in the Titans East tower. Finally, we had enough and we had a last standoff in the Titans West tower. But when we got there, you sent your lackeys to defeat us, and you made us choose if we were going to give up Raven for our freedom, or become your prisoners. We chose to be your prisoners but you tricked us anyway, and we barely escaped, but we had to leave Raven behind. It was one of the worst things that we had to do. But we had no choice. (1) It was your fault that we lost Raven!" He suddenly became infuriated, pointing an accusing finger at Robin. "You! It was your fault why I lost my little sister! She went with you! You made her evil! It's all your fault! You-"

"Hold on, hold on. Why are you blaming me? I haven't done any of those things yet! And now that you've told me all the evil things that I'll do, then I'll stop it! I won't work for Slade and do all those things you said I'd do." Robin defended himself, as he slapped Cyborg's accusing finger away from him.

"And that's exactly the kind of damage I was talking about!" Raven suddenly shouted out, bringing everyone's attention to her. "Now that you've told Robin that, he'll change his decisions and alter the future. What if someone more sinister will take his place? Now the future might even become more chaotic than ever before!"

"Oh believe me, nothing is worse than the damage that he has wrought." Cyborg defended.

"Why? Because he stole me? And why would you say that? How ever could he have done that?"

Just as Raven finished her sarcastic comment, the building started shaking around them. They were already being attacked by a horde of robots, easily breaking down the concrete barriers around them. Before anyone understood what was going on, a black tendril of power suddenly appeared out of nowhere and landed right beside Raven, revealing the mysterious Nightwing to be at her side.

"I'm taking her with me." He suddenly said, wrapping an arm around her and leaving with the empath in another burst of dark energy.

"RAVEN!" The Boy Wonder shouted out, knowing it was too late as they both disappeared into the unknown.

This left the Titans surrounded by the robots, caught unprepared to fight. But they still put their arms up in a defensive stance, ready to strike at any time. Finally the robots raised their electric bo-staffs, and the onslaught finally began.

Surprisingly, the Titans were easily defeating the robots. Though they were coming in at a steady pace, they were able to bring them down continuously. Starfire's eyeblasts and both of the Cyborg's sonic cannons could take down so many robots at a time. Beastboy morphed into a tyrannosaurs Rex and was able to attack the robots easily. Robin was suddenly burning with determination to find Raven at all costs, which made him slice his way through the horde of robots just to get out and be free. But even if he could break away from them, how would he know where had Nightwing taken her?

Just then, he felt his bond with Raven spark to life. He could suddenly feel her with an intensity like never before. As if he was connected to her very heart and soul. And that made him discover exactly where she was.

"Guys cover me! I'm going to save Raven." Robin exclaimed, throwing off a bunch of robots and running right for the exit, leaving the other Titans confused with what happened, and with a horde of angry robots to deal with.

* * *

Raven was surprised, because she had no idea why she was here. She could tell that she was still in the same abandoned building. But she had no idea why Nightwing had taken her in the first place.

She spun around harshly, demanding an explanation from the dark tyrant beside her.

"Why did you take me? What do you want from me?!" She had both her hands up, glowing with her power.

"That's a strange thing to ask me, my dear Raven." Nightwing replied with a chilling voice. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen." She replied sharply, finding it strange that he was asking that.

"Hmm, so Cyborg planned this out well. He took you at the time right before-"

"Before Slade took you and you became evil." She cut him off, with a blast of her powers. But he wasn't even fazed in the least with her attack. He simply blocked it with his hand and absorbed the energy, taking it in for himself.

"Evil is a relative term." (2) He replied, flexing his fingers around.

Raven could only stare wide-eyed at him, unable to comprehend how he could do such a thing. "How did you do that?!" She demanded.

Nightwing had a devilish smirk on his face, something very close to Robin's own expression, but much, much darker.

"I can show you." He said solemnly, stepping closer to her. "I can reveal everything you need to know about the future." He paused then, standing right in front of the distraught girl. "But only if you want me to."

He stood before her then, watching her intently, waiting for the slightest indication of an answer. Raven, on the other hand, was more confused at this point. She could feel like she was making a deal with the devil if she agreed to what he was offering her. But she also knew that there was a lot of things that the older Cyborg was not telling them, and there were so many things that she needed to know. Especially since most of them were about her.

With her warring emotions in her heart, she made the slightest dip of her head, and it was all the answer that Nightwing needed from her. Before she was even aware of what was happening, he drew closer to her, and placed a soft kiss on the ajna chakra on her forehead. Instantly, Raven collapsed in his arms, unconscious with whatever he did to her. His lips turned into a wide smile of delight, as he carried the girl he loved close to the emblem on his chest. He simply stayed in that position, savoring of the feel of her body against his, reminding him of his younger years with the dark empath.

Just then, Robin came storming in, with a birdarang in his hand. "Let. Raven. Go." He demanded in a low and menacing voice.

"Ah, I forgot the bond connects to you too. I'd have to remember to block that part." Nightwing mumbled absentmindedly.

"What do you mean, what did you do to her?!" The younger Robin shouted out, infuriated by what was happening.

"Nothing you would understand." He replied dismissively. "You are a reminder of who I once was. Of how weak I was back when I was younger."

"How can you say that?! You're evil! You attacked your friends and made them suffer. You're the evil dictator that stole the freedom of the people!"

"Again, a relative term. Do you honestly believe everything that Cyborg says? Look around you. Do you see any signs of tyranny? All I see is a progressive city , building itself up after years of chaos and turmoil, brought about by villains barraging the city everyday, and its heroes unable to stop them. But of course, you didn't know that, didn't you?"

He took Robin's awed look as a yes.

"Just as I thought" He paused for a moment, and drew closer to his younger self.." Don't believe everything that the future Cyborg says. I know that you know that he's hiding so much from you. He has a way of twisting his words, of molding the truth to things that he can accept, instead of what they really are."

"But that still doesn't change the fact that you turned on your team! That you are the head of an evil organization! That you took over the world!" Robin's voice echoed through the abandoned building, showing how much the truth of the future affected him. The truth of what he turned out to be.

"Why did you do it?" Robin whispered in a defeated tone. "Why did you turn into the one thing we spent our whole life fighting against?"

Nightwing let out a soft chuckle at what the Boy Wonder said. "You wouldn't understand. Not yet, at least. To truly understand what I became, you'd have to experience what I went through, to feel the pain and desperation that I felt. To embrace the darkness instead of fighting it."

He paused as he started taking steps toward his younger self, but with each step he took, Robin took a step back. "You have said yourself that we have spent a lifetime fighting against crime, and though we may defeat one villain now, they always find a way out of the prison that we put them in. They come back with vengeance, even more powerful than before, with a vendetta against us. And we have to find the strength within us to fight them again, and the city gets caught up in the crossfire. Why do we have to put ourselves through all that trouble? Why risk the lives of innocent people when there could be another way."

He paused at that very moment, as he had Robin backed up to the wall with no escape.

"Control, Robin. All we needed was control. it was not easy to obtain that control, that dominion over all of them, but I did it. Now the villains are working _for _me, instead of _against _me. Now, peace can be felt all over the country. And all that because I was powerful enough to enslave the darkness and evil of this world, rather than fighting it."

He outstretched his hands towards Robin, seemingly offering Raven to him. "But if there is one thing I'd like to teach you before you get back to your own time, it's this."

Carefully, he placed Raven into Robin's arms, careful not to drop her and keep her safe. "Evil is relative. What you may think of as evil may not be all that bad. It all depends on you and your beliefs. That is why you should never let anyone tell you what to believe in. Stand up for your own ideals, even if the world may oppose you. Work toward a dream that only you have. And you might just become powerful enough to overcome them all."

Just then, Cyborg's sonic cannon blasted through the door, allowing the Titans to enter the room.

"Robin! You have Raven already! What are you doing just standing there?! We have to go NOW!" The older Cyborg shouted out.

The Boy Wonder tried to find Nightwing in the room, but he had already vanished. He simply shook his head and ran toward the exit with the others, with the words of his future self playing in his mind.

Soon enough, Nightwing's robots found them and started chasing them through the floor. The Titans raced toward the end, where an elevator was waiting for them. Finally, they reached the elevator doors, opened them and stepped inside before the robots could reach them. As one final attack, the older Cyborg fired his sonic cannon toward them as the doors closed, effectively sealing them from their robotic enemies.

"Why did you have to go after Raven?" The older Cyborg said, scolding Robin for his actions. "We barely escaped from those robots! If you had been there, then we wouldn't be in that mess!"

"Well I had to! He could've hurt her or held her hostage!" the Boy Wonder replied in his defense.

"Of course he wouldn't do that!" the older Cyborg answered back, still in an angry tone, "He's Nightwing for crying out loud."

"What does that mean? How can you be so sure that he wouldn't hurt her?"

The Titans looked expectantly at their futuristic guide, and he could only stare back at them with an unreadable expression on his face, with no way of telling them what they needed to know. "Well.. because…"

* * *

Though Raven was currently unconscious in Robin's arms, her mind was very much active. She found herself slowly getting up in Nevermore, the astral plane of her mind. As she slowly gained consciousness, she wondered why she couldn't find any of her emotions there. She turned around in her place, desperately looking for any sign of her emotions. But with one swift turn, she suddenly came face-to-face with Nightwing, bumping right into his chest.

He instantly wrapped his arms around her, keeping her in place. "Whoa there, stop spinning around little bird or you're going to get dizzy." he said, with a hint of mischief in his voice.

"You!" Raven shouted out, infuriated by his presence, "What are you doing here?! You can't be here! Unless you came through my mirror! Do you have it?"

His response was only to chuckle at her, tucking a strand of violet hair behind her ear. "I do actually, but that's not how I got into your mind."

"But how-" Raven trailed off, considering all the possibilities of his presence in her mind. "The bond! But that can't be possible! For the bond to connect us together this deep, then that means that we should be bound at the most intimate level. That we-" She couldn't make her mouth form the words too bizarre for her mind to comprehend. She looked at the man before her, silently asking the truth from him, desperate to know if she was right.

Nightwing's only response was to lift his hand in front of her face, showing her the gold band on his ring finger. His lips turned into a devilish smirk as he confirmed Raven's fears."Your deduction was spot-on. You really are a woman after my own heart, Mrs. Grayson."

* * *

**A/N : I feel like I've cheated you all because this revelation was already done in the epilogue of Number 1 Zero. But I don't know why, it still feels like an "Oh, shit" moment for me. Especially at the end. It's a revelation to the characters, so I guess that's where the excitement comes from. But maybe that's just me, you can bitchslap me anytime now :))**

**And I'm proud of Starfire in this chapter. She was pretty sharp and knew who Nightwing was. Why does Raven know? Well that's just cause she's omnipotent and all powerful. Haha.**

**And I know some of you missed the Raven-obsessed Robin, so just to let you know, he's still alive and kicking. (And still very much in love with Raven hihi)**

**But I really love Nightwing's point here, which I realized while listening to mass awhile ago. People have their own notions of good and evil. Some people think homosexuality is evil. Some may believe that sex is bad. I'm not saying those beliefs are wrong, I'm just saying that people are entitled to their own opinions. If that's what they want to believe, then thats what they'll believe. But at the end of the day, it's your own notion of right and wrong that will matter. I think what's important in life is that you find your own ideals of right and wrong, not just the ones that are dictated to you by society. If you adhere to a certain belief system, then that's alright too. But it has to be something of your choice, something you wholeheartedly agree too, something you choose to believe in. That's why Nightwing keeps on saying that "Evil is relative" because what may be evil to one person may not be evil in another. Sorry if I sounded preachy, just trying to explain some stuff, especially since I ventured into some deep shit back there.**

**(1) : If you read Number 1 Zero, did you notice the discrepancies in Cyborg's story? : Hihi. So maybe he isn't the goody-two shoes that he appears to be :**

**(2) : This was sort of lifted from the Uncanny X-Force : Dark Angel Saga. Issue 14 if I'm not mistaken.**

**I think I'll go for shorter chapters now, which means quicker updates so yay! :)**

**And your responses! : **

**Lord-of-Change : Thank you! I'm glad you liked the first chapter. And yes, this chapter had all sorts of grey in it. Hope it doesn't get too confusing though :|**

**acrobats they tumble : Thank you! I hope this chapter was still exciting for you, I hope. :))  
**

**FlawlessAngel10 : Haha thank you, don't worry! I will finish this I promise :))**

**TheDreamChaser : Thank you! I hope this chapter still kept the energy up even with all the dialogue. And if you're interested, I have some comics in my dropbox, if you'd like the link to them I can send it to you :)**

**koryandrs : Thank you! I hope this chapter didn't disappoint.**

**MysteryGirl2401 : I'm glad you liked the first story and excited for the second. Hihi :) **

**ahsokalo : Thank you! I hope this wasn't too much of a long wait :))**

**Destiny : Thank you so much! Your review warmed my heart. You are too kind my dear, and I hope everything is going well in your personal life as well! :)**

**Well I guess that's it for me! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I promise there will be an actual revelation next chapter. :)) In the meantime, please read and review and bitchslap me if you are so inclined to. Haha.**

**Oh and if you have some time or money to spare, please help out those who have been affected in the Philippines. The super typhoon there has devastated so many people in our country and we need all the support, love and prayers that we can get. :( Thank you! **


	3. Bloodstream

**COCHISE**

"_Wake up look me in the eyes again  
__I need to feel your hand upon my face  
__Words can be like knives  
__They can cut you open  
__And the silence surrounds you  
__And holds you_

_The spaces in between  
__Two minds and all the places they have been  
__The spaces in between  
__I tried to put my finger on it  
__I tried to put my finger on it_

_I think I might've inhaled you  
__I could feel you behind my eyes  
__You gotten into my bloodstream  
__I could feel you floating in me"_

_- Stateless, Bloodstream_

* * *

"How", she breathed, still shocked by the truth, "how did you get me to marry you?"

He laughed heartily, so hard that the sound echoed throughout Nevermore. It seemed like it was the first time he laughed like that in years. Raven could only look at him with a strange expression on her face, puzzled by his uncanny reaction.

"Out of all the things you could ask me, you chose that question." he replied condescendingly.

Raven gave him a sheepish look as she gazed up toward the mysterious man who had her in his arms.

"Well I don't know about your Raven, but marriage isn't even an option for me at this point. So how is it possible that you got me to agree to marry you?" she asked skeptically.

"Why don't I show you?" he said with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. He aligned her body to the left, and suddenly, the scene changed before her, showing her a memory that he shared with the future Raven. Her eyes widened at the sight == she never thought that it was possible to show memories to other people. And now here she was, watching Nightwing's past right before her eyes, as if they were a movie.

It was the two of them, lying naked in each other's arms- in her bed. Raven couldn't believe what she was seeing. How could she have been so reckless to allow those things to happen between them? Was she even remotely ready for the consequences that those actions could cause? But then, the memory began, and she knew she had to ponder on these thoughts for another time.

The Raven from his memory slowly got up from the bed, her hair a wild disarray of purple atop her head.

"We haven't left my room in 3 days." She said with a teasing smirk.

"Wanna add to that to make it a week?" Nightwing joked, getting up as well, then nuzzling her neck.

"I never thought that being the Master's girlfriend just meant that we'd be cooped up in the bedroom forever."

Nightwing frowned at what she said, not liking her use of the term "girlfriend". It sounded too temporary - it was as if he would replace her anytime soon. And that did not sit well with him. In his mind, since Raven chose him, then that meant that she would be his until the very end. Unfortunately, she hasn't grasped that concept yet. And it was at that point that he decided to show her just how much she meant to him.

He reached out for something in her desk drawer and placed it on her finger, in such a smooth motion that Raven only noticed the movement when it was finally completed.

"Raven, you are not just my girlfrend." He said reverently, looking right into her eyes. "You are my inspiration. You pushed me to overcome the darkness that was surrounding me. Without your unending effort to look for me, I would have become a prisoner of the evil, a mindless slave to everything. But you gave me the strength to fight through it all. To be its ruler instead of being ruled by it." He held up her hand, raising up the sparkling engagement ring on her hand, and kissed it gently. "Marry me, Raven. Marry me and let's spend our whole life together. I won't be able to run this corporation without you. Marry me, Raven. _Please_." He said those words in an almost begging tone.

Raven, in her reply, could only look toward him, shock clearly evident on her face. She looked like she was about to cry at any moment now. She slowly nodded her head, unable to verbalize the answer that would change her life.

* * *

"I can't believe I actually fell for that romantic sappy speech." Past Raven suddenly said, with a scowl on her face.

Nightwing once again laughed from behind her, his lungs shaking with the sound. She felt the vibrations from where she stood, as the memory ended before their eyes.

"We experienced so many things during the course of those months. What we needed more than anything was someone to hold on to. And my popping of that question was our way of achieving that, I guess."

"Wait… what do you mean? What things did we go through?" Raven asked curiously.

Nigthwing's lips curved into a mischievous smirk. "Oh, I have so much more to show you." He faced her body toward an empty space in Nevermore, ready to show her more memories they had shared together.

* * *

After being chased by the _Master's _robotic forces, the Titans finally reached future Cyborg's underground laboratory. They were awed and amazed as they entered, looking around at all the technology placed around it. There was a huge supercomputer in the middle of the room, with different weapons mounted at the sides, and a power generator at the far end of the room, possibly his energy source when he needed to recharge. The Titans marveled at the sight around them while the older Cyborg went straight for the supercomputer in the middle of the room. He began typing furiously, determined to find whatever it was that he was looking for.

His younger counterpart noticed this instantly and went to his side, trying to find out what he was searching so desperately for.

"Are you planning our next move?" he asked, as he looked over the images that were showing up on the large screen. There were schematics of locations, and of different areas. It seemed like the older Cyborg was tracking people down, and in such a notable haste.

"Yeah, I'm trying to track down the other Titans. But it's not going to be easy. Beastboy has gone off the grid ever since he joined Terra and the Ravagers. Starfire is almost impossible to track, but I think I know someone who can lead us to her. We just have to get there first."

As he finished saying this, the older Cyborg was already able to map out their route once they got out of the building. He had already downloaded the coordinates into his system, knowing the exact location of their targets.

Just then, they heard banging from the outside walls. They all stopped what they were doing, focusing their ears to the sound all around them. The banging was getting louder and stronger, like every hit was slowly bringing the walls down. Instinctively, the Titans banded together, keeping close and preparing themselves for an attack.

_BANG!_

_BANG!_

_BANG!_

And with one final BANG, the door in front of Cyborg's laboratory came crashing down, revealing the horde of robots they were battling before. They finally came down and caught up with the Titans.

"Cover me! I'm getting us out of here!" ordered the older Cyborg as the robots began entering his laboratory and attacking the group. Beastboy, Starfire and the younger Cybrog went in front of Robin and Raven, protecting them from the robots that were coming in. Meanwhile, the older cybernetic man was pressing some commands into his computer, and suddenly, a larger and more advanced version of the T-car came up into view from underneath the floor. It was designed like a truck, with large tires, and a large body. It also seemed more durable, with titanium doors and reflectors as windows.

Robin could only stare wide-eyed at the vehicle before him. The older Cyborg keyed in a few commands, and instantly, a countdown was flashed before the screen. According to the voice recording, they had T-minus ten seconds to leave the area before the laboratory went into a self-destruct mode.

"EVERYBODY GET INTO THE CAR NOW!" Cyborg screamed, as he too ran toward the more advanced T-car. The other Titans followed soon after, while narrowly missing some of the attacks from the robots. The countdown nonchalantly continued as the group raced for their lives, trying to do all they could to get to safety.

_10_

The Titans began rushing toward the T-car.

_9_

The robots continued to fire at them, slowly advancing their position toward them.

_8_

Cyborg had his arm at the handle of the T-car.

_7_

Starfire threw another starbolt as she hovered right above the T-car.

_6_

The older Cyborg finally entered the driver's seat of the car.

_5_

The younger Cyborg opened the door at the back of the car, shouting at Robin to carry Raven inside.

_4_

The robots began speeding up their pace, seemingly determined to prevent the Titans from leaving at all costs.

_3_

Beastboy and Starfire went inside the car, narrowly missing an attack from one of the robots.

_2_

The older Cyborg finally started the car and opened a secret entrance. He stepped on the gas and rushed out of his underground laboratory.

_1_

They finally exited the area right before the robots could reach them. They were still being fired at, but the older Cyborg's new design made it impenetrable to such kinds of energy attacks

_0_

Explosions suddenly started firing everywhere, destroying the laboratory and trapping the robots inside. With one last look, the Titans gazed at the older Cyborg's laboratory as it caved into itself, forever keeping the secret of Cyborg's technology from the world, especially from his enemies.

He stepped on the gas, and their car sped off into the underground tunnel he created, to a destination still unknown to the Titans. But first, they felt the need to celebrate their latest victory.

"Dude that was awesome!" Beastboy shouted out. "They were like there, and we were like run! And then there was the countdown, and then we got into the car, and then we left and they got caved in! All in ten seconds flat!"

"I'm just glad that we are now safe and free." Starfire added, a bit exasperated as compared to her usual cheery tone.

"But Raven still hasn't woken up. What did Nightwing do to her?" Robin asked worriedly, as he gazed in the empath in his arms.

"Where are we going anyway? Are we going to find someone to help Raven?" the younger Cyborg asked from the passenger seat, with an untrusting voice.

"We're going to find the other Titans. I told you that we've gone our separate ways right? Well, Starfire went with Red Hood and Arsenal, and formed their own personal vengeance team. Or whatever they call themselves." The future Cyborg explained, as he drove through the underground tunnels with much speed.

"Red Hood? Arsenal? Who are these people?" Starfire asked, curious as to what she was doing in this future.

"Oh yeah sorry I forgot about that. Well, Arsenal is Speedy when he got older. And Red Hood is… um…" he mused thoughtfully, unsure of how to tell them his true identity. "Back in your time, he still went with the name of Red X."

Gasps were heard inside the car at his revelation. "You mean I have teamed up with a criminal?" Starfire asked hysterically.

"No! He's not a criminal anymore, Star." The older Cyborg reassured her. "More like an… anti-hero."

The other Titans looked at him with strange expressions on their faces, unable to understand the term.

"Uhh… He's not exactly bad, but he's not exactly good either. You know, kind of like a… nevermind. All you have to know anyway is that Nightwing is the villain here. Everyone else isn't really that much of a threat." He finally said, exasperated from trying to define the terms.

Robin kept silent at the cybernetic man's answer. After his talk with his future self, he was more aware of the seas of grey that were surrounding them. At this point, he didn't know whom he should believe. Should he place his trust in his future self, since of course, they were the same person, or should he believe the very man that enlisted their help in the first place? His eyebrows furrowed in his head, unable to choose what he should believe in. He gazed down at Raven, still unconscious in his arms, and secretly wished that she were here so that she could lead him toward the right answer. Out of all of his friends, she was the one who knew what to do in situations like this. It was her voice of reason that he trusted above all. But now she was in someplace he did not know, and it scared him, not to have his anchor of sanity at his side. He found it strange how he sounded so dependent on her, but deep inside in his heart, he knew it was all true - he just needed her that much.

The older Cyborg's authoritative voice brought him out of his musings and back to the conversation with the other Titans.

"It'll be almost impossible to track them down, but we're going to someone who can help us out."

"Who would that someone be?" Starfire asked, thoroughly interested in their next plans, especially since it concerned her future self.

"We're going to Gotham. To the Dark Knight himself." He replied proudly.

"You mean- that Jason is really-" Robin blurted out, knowing what this information meant. For a few years now, he had his theory about who Red X was. He just couldn't believe it because of its impossibility, especially since that person was supposed to be _dead. _But since the older Cyborg connected him to Batman, then that would mean that -

"Yes Robin, Red X is Jason Todd." (1) He finally finished for him, confirming his fears.

Robin could only stare out into space wide-eyed, too shocked by the absurdity of the truth. His supposedly dead brother was Red X and now is Red Hood, running around the world with his own vendettas to settle. He didn't know how to take this information, and all he could do was to stare out blindly into space, the whites of his mask completely stretched out.

"Who is this Jason Todd?" Starfire asked innocently, oblivious to her leader's distress.

"Not now, Starfire." The older cybernetic man replied, looking at Robin's shocked face from the rear view mirror. "Some other time."

"But where am I in this future?" Beastboy squealed, also unaware of the inner turmoil that was raging inside Robin.

"Oh, well you're slightly easier to find." The older cybernetic man answered. "You joined Terra and her covert team called the Ravagers. (2) You guys keep on moving so it's hard to track you down, but once we find Starfire, then we can focus on pinpointing your location."

"Okay." Beastboy simply said, seemingly contented by his answer.

"Wait" the younger Cyborg suddenly said out of the blue, putting the bits of information together. "If you say that's how we'll track Beastboy and Starfire, and since you're my future counterpart, and Robin's future counterpart is Nigthwing, then where is Raven in this future?"

The older Cyborg's face paled incredibly, without a clue as to what he should answer to that. "Well…" he began unsurely. "She's…"

* * *

By the end of all the memories (3), Raven could only stare wide-eyed at the empty space before her. She knew that the older cybernetic man was lying to them, but she didn't know that he lied to them _that _much. Through that representation, she now understood why it was so important for her and Nigthwing to be together - how it was the culmination of all their struggles, their own triumph against the harsh fate that they had to endure.

But there was still one thing that puzzled her, one thing that didn't make sense through all of this.

"Nightwing," she breathed out, looking toward the strange man beside her. He turned his gaze toward her, as if he was ready to answer any question that she had.

"Where am I now? Where is the future Raven?" she asked, with a burning desire to know the truth.

His face paled at the question, shock clearly evident on his face. How was he to tell her the harrowing truth? How was he going to tell her what had truly happened?

He enveloped her in his arms once again, without even saying a word. His sudden movement shocked Raven, but she simply stayed in his arms, waiting for his answer. Soon enough, he pulled back, but only to take her lips into a searing kiss. She was shocked now more than ever, but she couldn't deny what pleasure she felt from his lips feeding into hers. His lips were so skilled and soft, giving her pleasures unlike what she had felt before. But she could also feel the overwhelming sadness behind that kiss. He kissed her with so much longing, as if he had tasted honey after being deprived from it for so long. She could feel Nevermore fading away into nothing, her surroundings disappearing around her. She was slowly coming back to consciousness. But before their connection was completely severed, he sent her one last message - one message that changed everything.

* * *

"Raven… well… she's…." the older Cyborg stuttered even more, unsure of how to say what he had to say.

"Raven!" Robin's voice echoed throughout the T-Car, as the empath slowly got up from his lap, still a bit dazed from what happened.

"Raven! Joyous! You are awake!" Starfire shouted out.

"Little sis! You're okay! You got us all worried back there!" the younger Cyborg said, as he looked toward them from the passenger's seat.

"And you came back just in time too. Future Cyborg was just about to tell us what happened to you!" Beastboy explained excitedly, clutching on Raven's arm lightly.

"Don't bother." The empath suddenly said, grabbing her arm from the changeling's grasp. "I already know what happened to me here."

The older Cyborg's face paled even more than before. His cybernetic heart stopped beating, wondering if Raven knew the truth already.

Robin instantly felt the apprehension and the overwhelming hurt emanating from her. He placed an arm around her shoulder; worry clearly etched on his face. "What happened to you?" he asked reverently.

The world froze for all the Titans in the car as she finally opened her mouth and told them the truth.

"I died."

* * *

**A/N : DUN DUN DUN DUNNNN. And so for everyone who was asking about where future Raven is, well there's your answer! But how did that happen? Stay tuned because that is another lovely story.**

**(1): It's interesting how fans speculated that Jason Todd (we'll go into his backstory a bit in the next chapter- but basically he was the second Robin who was killed by the Joker) was Red X, and a few years later, he came back to the land of the living as Red Hood. Coincidence? I think not. :p**

**(2) : In the New 52, Beastboy teamed up with Terra in the Ravagers team, another one of those groups whose purpose isn't really clear and isn't all about saving the world and helping people. We'll delve into more of that in later chapters.**

**(3) : Nightwing basically showed past Raven all the things that happened to them in Number 1 Zero. So instead of recaping everything, we just let the birds do their thing.**

**So yeah, I was debating on whether or not to reveal this to you guys already, but since it may take awhile before I post again since I'll be swamped with acads and chorale competition and tutoring, then yeah, I'm not sure when my next update will be :| So that is why I left you guys with this mystery to ponder upon! **

**Next chapter will feature Batman once again, and we'll see how the future has treated him. And if you think that Raven's death is our major revelation, well there is a lot more where that came from! We'll get to know Raven's life as the Master's wife, if she really turned to the dark side, or maybe there was a part of her that still remained righteous and law-abiding, and other stuff that will be interesting to know. So yeah I hope you guys stay tuned for that.**

**Anyway, sorry if I can't go into each of your responses today since I'm kind of in a rush, but I just want to thank you all for reading the shit I post, and enjoying it, and hopefully you enjoyed this chapter and the ones that are yet to come! I love you all! Keep safe wherever you are, and please continue to pray for my fellow countrymen who have lost their families and homes in Typhoon Haiyan. **

**Thank you and have a wonderful day. :)**


	4. Dark Secret

**Chapter 4**

"_You are sickened by the weakness  
Of a heart that's filled with fear  
And if the world won't understand you  
You can make it disappear_

_'Cause there's a dark secret_  
_Carry with you_  
_Carry with you_  
_And deep inside, the way you hate them_

_On the outside, doesn't show_  
_And oh, they think that they defy you_  
_They are slaved to what you know_  
_It's a dark secret_

_Carry with you_  
_Carry with you_  
_And it's a dark secret"_

_- Matthew Sweet, Dark Secret_

* * *

"_I died."_

The T-Car suddenly screeched into a halt at Raven's announcement. The older Cyborg's eyes were alight with a burning rage. He turned around to face Raven, who still had a nonchalant expression on her face, even with what she had just revealed to the group.

"Who told you that?!" He demanded angrily, looking back from the driver's seat to the other passengers of the T-Car.

Raven remained unfazed, even with his sudden outburst, especially with everything that she knew about the man before her.

"I said who told you!?" he shouted out once again, still trying his best to intimidate her, or at least, just to release his anger and frustration over what happened.

"Cyborg, that's enough!" Robin suddenly defended her, holding Raven in his arms. "She just heard the worst news of her life and you're badgering her for information."

"But we have to know how she knew that! Were you talking to Nightwing? Was he the one who told you that?"

"She was with us the whole time! How could she have been with Nightwing when she has been here?"

"She was unconscious! They could have met in their head just like what they always do. Stop defending her and let her speak for herself!" The older Cyborg was shouting again as he struggled in his seat, as if he was itching to get out and attack Raven.

Fortunately, before he could do anything like that, the Titans stepped in and stopped him before he could do any more damage. Starfire, Beast Boy, and the younger Cyborg placed their hands on the older cybernetic man, forcing him to calm down.

"That's enough man, you need to cool off." The younger Cyborg said, trying his best to reason with his future self.

Seeing as he was once again outnumbered by the camaraderie of the Titans, he finally gave up. He let out a slow breath, trying his best to calm himself down. The young heroes started letting him go, once they felt the tension release from the futuristic man.

"I'm sorry; it's been really stressful for me, with everything that has been happening." He apologized after a few moments.

"It's alright. I understand. I know you've been through a lot lately." Raven replied in her monotone, finally settling the peace inside the tension filled T-Car.

A few more silent moments passed without so much as a sound from the occupants of the car. No one wanted to break the temporary silence that had fallen upon them. After a couple more minutes, the older Cyborg turned to face front, started the car once again, and continued on their journey through the underground tunnel.

Even after the T-Car revved to life and moved forward, everyone was still dead silent. They could all feel the remnants of the tension that they shared just moments ago. Time stretched on inside the tunnel, making it seem like they have been traveling for days instead of hours. Their sense of time was being warped because they were hidden from the sky or the sun, which was why after only a few short moments, they were already becoming restless. They knew that the silence had to be broken before they all went crazy.

"So... are we there yet?" Beast Boy asked, desperate to break the silence around them.

"Uh no... We still have a couple of hours of driving left. We'll probably get there before morning." The older Cyborg explained in a weary voice.

"That's like wasting time we don't have." Raven stated, masking her irritation with her monotone. "The faster we finish this mission and get back to our own time, the lesser the damage we create to the time-space continuum."

"Which is why I was hoping that you and Robin would go ahead to Gotham and talk to Batman. You can teleport him there to cut through our travel time."

"Alright... but... Why do we even have to talk to him in the first place?" Raven asked skeptically.

Robin took this time to explain to the empath their plan of meeting up with his former mentor so that he could give them the location of Starfire's team. Raven only nodded in understanding, as she was finally brought up to speed with their latest developments.

"So let me get this straight..." Robin began, directing his attention to the older Cyborg. "You want us to teleport to Gotham, ask Batman where Jason is, and tell you so that we can go to him and pick-up Starfire?"

"Exactly." The older Cyborg said proudly.

"But dude, if that is your plan, then why won't Raven just teleport us all there?" Beast Boy asked while scratching his head.

Strangely enough, this unnerved the futuristic man. His eyes looked like they were in a state of panic as he nervously began to stutter. Robin and Raven found his sudden reaction to be strange, but they said nothing as they eagerly waited whatever answer he had for them.

"Um... well... uhh... because... because it might tire Raven out if she teleported us all out there. Yeah! That's right... plus I don't think Batman would be happy to see me." He finally blurted out.

The birds instantly looked at each other, silently sharing their suspicions about the older Cyborg's strange behavior, and their worries about their mission. Raven looked at him with fear in her eyes, but Robin held her hand, showing his support of her, that he'd take care of her as they went into Gotham. He eased her worries through their bond, sending his care and trust for her through it. With a small smile, she gave him a slight nod, telling him that she was ready to go.

When the older Cyborg saw the whole scenario unfold through the rear view mirror, he just wanted to puke. The connection between the birds was too cheesy for his taste. But if it got them to talk to the Dark Knight, then he knew that he had to stomach through those kinds of moments. He cleared his throat to get their attention and asked, "So are you guys ready?"

Robin glared at him through his mask, but nodded anyway, signaling that they were all set to go.

"I need you to show me where I'm supposed to teleport us to." Raven asked, as she held on to Robin's hand. The other Titans looked at them nervously, silently wishing them luck on their mission.

Robin closed his eyes behind his mask, concentrating on the exact place where he believed they'd find the Dark Knight at that time. Raven closed her eyes as well, taking his hands in her own, focusing on his thoughts as she enveloped them both in her dark energy. And just like that, they disappeared completely from the T-Car.

* * *

"Master, the robots lost the T-Car. They exited in an underground tunnel we were not aware of. They also have the Mistress Raven with them. What course of action would you want us to take? Will we use the satellites to track them down?" Wintergreen, Nightwing's faithful servant asked as he approached his master. The great Nightwing was currently looking out the window of his luxurious penthouse office in Jump City.

"No need, Wintergreen. I already know where they are heading." The _Master_ replied, barely concealing the anger in his tone. "Patch me a call up to Abbot's pack in Gotham City."

"For what sir?" his servant asked as he started setting up the video feed from the computer in the penthouse.

"I have an assignment for them." Was his evasive reply.

"But sir, aren't you supposed to ask _her _about this first?" Wintergreen asked worriedly.

"I already know that she'll say no to this, so I don't need to ask for her permission. I am the _Master _so I can easily circumvent her order if needed."

"But _Master, _don't you think that that means that this isn't a good idea-"

"Just shut up and get me the feed, Wintergreen." Nightwing snapped, finally turning away from the window and going up to his computer to make the video conference. Finally, the man named Abbott's face came up on screen, greeting him cordially before asking him what he needed.

"Abbott, I want you and your pack to take down this car..." he ordered, showing an image of the T-Car to the man on the computer screen.

* * *

The birds suddenly appeared on top of the roof of Wayne Enterprises tower. It was already night time, around 9 P.M. in Gotham City. The lights were dancing against the dark night sky, bringing the city to life. Robin's shoulders tensed on instinct, as if ready for battle. It was a force of habit stemming form the days when he was still its protector. With the city's revival, also came the reawakening of danger in its streets.

"No need for that anymore. Gotham is a safer place now." A deep voice suddenly said behind them. They turned around instantly and finally saw _the _Batman before them. His cape was being carried by the wind, as his cowl was directed right at them. They could feel him analyzing every single detail about them, as if he was staring right through their souls.

Suddenly, they saw his features soften, as he was overcome with such a great emotion that Raven stumbled from its sheer force. She didn't expect the great Batman to feel this much hurt, sadness, longing, and joy just by the sight of them.

"Nighwting already briefed us on what happened." He said in a softer voice than the one before. "But nothing could prepare me for meeting the both of you here."

"What did Nightwing tell you?" Robin asked, his detective skills instantly coming to play. "Do you know who we are and where we're from?"

"Yes. You are Robin and Raven, seven years from the past. Robin is 19 and Raven is 18. Nightwing announced to all the city generals that Cyborg brought you here from the past. He said that you might be going around the country, trying to bring the Titans back together."

Robin's masked eyes grew wide at what he heard. He panicked when he realized that the evil dictator that they were fighting already knew their plans - instantly being two steps ahead of them. But then another thought crossed his mind, and it was graver than what he thought. "Wait, are you saying that you're one of his generals? That you're working for him!?" he asked in disbelief.

Batman walked past the two time-displaced Titans as he looked out into the Gotham skyline. He let out a breath before finally answering their question. "Not exactly. When he took over the country, he set up generals for every city. But Gotham was different. He left the city's jurisdiction to me. He tried to partner up with as much villains as he could, but afterwards, he left Gotham in my hands. It's only in Gotham that he did that. I don't know if he did it out of respect, but I don't receive orders from him. He updates me on what's happening around the country and the corporation. He even invites me to all the yearly parties, but aside form that, I'm basically on my own."

"But what about the other heroes? Are they city generals like you?" Robin asked once again, trying his best to understand the world that they were living in right now.

"I am one of the many heroes that have allied with Nightwing. Once was saw the progress that he was making in the world, we stopped fighting him. But there are others who still oppose him. They formed the resistance. But they were easily defeated and punished harshly. Heroes like John Stuart, Shazam... even Superman fell to his hands and are now imprisoned in his Tower. Nightwing is too powerful to oppose, and people are slowly realizing that."

"So you're saying that you have been allied with him, even from the start?" Robin asked once again, trying his hardest to accept that his mentor teamed up with an evil dictator.

The Dark Knight scowled at Robin's accusation, but he still answered his question. "No, that's not how it happened." He replied gravely. "The Raven from our time would know what truly went on at the beginning."

Raven raised a brow at what he said. "What do you mean?" she asked, finally speaking up in this conversation. But before Batman could answer her, she felt herself slowly begin to lose consciousness. Her eyes were slowly closing without her will. She could barely hear Robin call her name before she surrendered completely to the vision that had taken over her mind.

* * *

She slowly blinked her eyes, and instantly knew that something was wrong. It felt like she was in a vision of some sort, like a memory that might have belonged to her future self. She saw Batman, appearing before her through a giant computer screen. He was wearing his trademark cowl, but his lips were in the faintest of grins that it was barely noticeable. But however small, it was still there.

"What's so funny?" she heard herself say, feeling her own lips for into a smile.

"Your hair is a mess." He replied, obviously stifling a laugh.

"Well I'm sorry. Richard can get so needy sometimes. The only reason I can talk to you now is because he's sated and asleep."

"You don't have to tell me. Dick tells me all about your _activities._"

The sound of glass breaking echoed through the background as she felt her eyes go wide open, scandalized by what she heard.

Batman let out a chuckle, amused by her reaction. That was more laughter than anyone had ever heard from him.

Raven felt herself close her eyes and pinch the bridge of her nose, trying her best to calm herself down. Or as calm as a person who suddenly found out that her husband was sharing their experiences in bed with her father-in-law could be.

"Can we just please get to the topic at hand?" she asked exasperatedly.

Batman let out one final chuckle before finally going back into his trademark scowl. Raven felt surprised by his sudden change in demeanor, but she simply shrugged it off, ready to get back to business.

"What have you learned about the corporation so far?" The Dark Knight finally asked.

"Not much. Richard is really good in keeping stuff from me. I'm basically a trophy wife in here. I just stand around in meetings and glare at all the villains, promising a painful death if they try anything stupid. But from what I gather, he has effectively expanded his corporation to almost 80% in the country. But the puzzling thing is; he hasn't done anything about it. He hasn't made any threats to the government, even to the Justice League. I have no idea what he's really up to, but I have a feeling it is coming soon. He has a grand meeting with all of the members of his corporation in a few months time. I'm pretty sure that whatever he has planned, it is going to happen there."

Batman was silent after her report, trying to understand what his adoptive son was planning, He stroked his chin as he was deep in thought, trying to predict Nightwing's next move. "We need more information on this. Up to now I still have no idea what he has planned. I think we need to get you into a more active position in the corporation, so you'd be able to become more involved in whatever undertaking he is doing."

"How do you suppose I'd do that?" Raven asked skeptically.

"I may have an idea. Dick still has some stakes in Gotham, right?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I'll get you in touch with one of my associates here. She'll be your ticket into the organization."

Raven was listening intently to Batman's next words, eager to know how she could help when she suddenly heard a boy's voice shout out:

"Is that Raven?"

Batman turned around to find his current Robin, Damian Wayne (1) peering through the computer screen.

"Yes it's Raven but we're discussing some important matters and-" the Dark Knight began, but was instantly cut off by Damian's excited little voice.

"Hi Raven! Long time no see."

Raven felt herself chuckle before giving her reply. "It's nice to see you too, Damian."

"We stopped the Penguin today. He was going to introduce a new strain of bird flu in the city, but me and Dad got there in time to stop him before-"

"Alright Damian, that's enough." Batman finally spoke, trying to get his son out of the conversation.

"But I haven't told her about how I beat up ten thugs all by myself!" he replied, pouting at the Dark Knight.

Raven felt herself chuckle at the sight before finally saying, "It's alright, Bruce." Then turning her attention to Damian, she said, "Really? You did all that? You're becoming a really good Robin."

"Really? Better than Dick?" Damian replied; hope beaming through his masked eyes.

She gave him the sweetest smile she could muster as she said, "Yup. Better than Dick."

Right on cue, groaning could be heard from the other side of the room, along with some rustling of sheets. Raven turned her head toward the room, checking to see if her husband was getting up from bed.

"I have to go, before he gets suspicious." She whispered in a rush, still watching her husband intently.

"Go. We'll talk about this later." Batman replied, matching her own hushed tone.

Raven felt herself nod to the Dark Knight before cutting off the video feed.

And then everything turned to black in her mind.

* * *

When Raven fainted, they instantly checked her pulse and vital signs, making sure that she was alright. Once they confirmed that she was perfectly fine, and just unconscious, the Dynamic Duo settled down on the Wayne Enterprises rooftop, with Raven lying peacefully in Robin's lap. They decided to stay there in that same location until she came to, which was hopefully in the next few moments.

Comfortable silence fell upon them, reminding them of simpler times when they still fought crime side-by-side. It felt nostalgic for them but they knew that there were still so many unanswered questions between them. Robin took the opportunity of being solely alone to have their much-needed talk, since he had many questions for the future, and he still had information that they needed to acquire.

"How-" Robin began, unsure of how to ask his question to the Dark Knight. "How is Jason..."

"Are you asking how Jason Todd is still alive? After Joker supposedly beat the second Robin to death with a crowbar?" Batman said, cutting him off and asking his question for him, in his gruff tone.

The Boy Wonder could only stare at him in disbelief, and nodded at him, urging him to finally tell him the truth.

"Talia Al Ghul took his body and placed it in the Lazarus Pit. (2) She then trained him and he went back to Jump City, stole your Red X suit, and messed with you for awhile until he finally made his own alter ego as the Red Hood. He's done a lot of crazy things after that. Currently, he's going around, fixing his own vendettas with Starfire and Arsenal."

He turned his steely gaze toward Robin before asking him, "You want me to tell you where they are, don't you? So you can ask Starfire to come back and you'll bring back the Titans to stop Nightwing?"

The Boy Wonder had no idea how he knew that, but he just nodded his head in awe and shock, remembering that he was talking to _the _Batman after all.

"I last heard that he was in New York City, settling some personal vendetta with Joker there. Tim (3) might be involved, so I do hope that you exercise the utmost caution when dealing with the situation."

Robin looked away from the Dark Knight, slowly digesting the information that had just been explained to him. Batman gazed at him as he saw him deep in thought, as if he could see the wheels in his brain turning, doing their best to process what he had just heard.

"But I don't understand." He finally said, after a few moments. "Why would Talia Al Ghul help Jason? Why would she go through all of the trouble of dropping him to the Lazarus Pit and bringing him back to life?"

The Dark Knight looked away, as if he was unsure of how to explain this to his adopted son. "Well, I suppose she was feeling generous since she was pregnant with our son at the time."

"Your son? Your son!?" Robin exclaimed in disbelief, his voice echoing throughout the Gotham night.

Batman let out a sigh before replying. "Yes, Dick. I have a son with Talia Al Ghul. His name is Damian. Damian Wayne. He's the current Robin right now. He was trained by the League of Assassins, has a bit of a temper, arrogant, and has a tendency to kill everything. But he's a good kid nonetheless."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?!" he demanded, still shocked by all of these revelations.

"I only knew about his existence a few years ago. Your future self is very much aware of Damian, and is even close to him, just like a big brother. I know everything is too shocking for you right now, but that's only because you came from the past and have to learn all of this from me at one go. But this all makes sense through time." He placed a hand on Robin's shoulder, somehow comforting him through the weight of these sudden revelations. "I'm sorry, Dick. You shouldn't have found out this way. But this will all make sense through time." He paused for a moment before finally asking, "Do you have any other questions?"

Silence fell upon the Dynamic Duo once again. There was so much that needed to be explained between them, so much that Robin needed to know about this strange future that he was thrust into. But out of the many questions that was plaguing his mind, only one truly stood out above the rest.

"Why didn't you stop me?" Robin suddenly asked, after a few tense moments of silence had passed. "Why didn't you stop me from taking over the world?"

It took awhile before anything was spoken between them. The Dynamic Duo could feel the weight of Robin's question. It was something that he desperately needed to know, and it was only the Dark Knight who could give him the answer. Batman bent his head down as he sadly replied, "This wasn't supposed to happen. You had a completely different plan. All of it changed when Raven..." he couldn't bring himself to say the truth, so his voice just trailed off, as he gazed at the peaceful girl in Robin's lap. The Boy Wonder gazed toward the empath as well, hurt by the realization that she no longer existed in this time. He brushed a stray lock of purple hair from her face, amazed at how things eventually turned out for them. He was still very much confused with everything that Batman revealed to him, but he couldn't help but marvel at these strange turn of events. He would never have imagined that he would have ended up marrying Raven, let alone conquering the world because of her influence. How could everything have turned out this way? And what other secrets did this future hold? He stroked her face gently as his mind tried to find out what else Batman was hiding from him, when suddenly her eyes opened, bringing her back into consciousness.

"Raven!" he exclaimed, instantly enveloping her in his arms. "I'm so glad that you're okay."

The empath was shocked by her leader's reaction, but she awkwardly patted him back, reciprocating his comforting gesture.

Robin broke away from their embrace, only to demand answers from her. "Where have you been? What happened to you?" he asked in a rush.

"I'm not quite sure..." Raven replied unsurely. "I think I saw a vision - a memory from the future Raven." She looked up toward Batman, who was right above the two of them seated on the floor. "I think your presence triggered it. It was probably your memory and I somehow saw it from the eyes of my future self."

"What did you see?" Batman asked, as he helped her get up from her position on the floor.

"It was just the two of us, talking about Nightwing's plans. From what I got from the conversation, we were working together to figure out what he was up to."

"Wait" Robin said, cutting in their conversation, as he stood up. "So you two were working behind Nightwing's back to find out what he was planning?"

"Yes." Batman replied sternly. "We were gathering information so if Nightwing was going to try something drastic, we would be able to create counter-measures to stop him. At that time, he was already too powerful, that he could have easily taken over the country."

"Which he did." Raven pointed out.

"But that was not his original plan. He only changed it when-" Batman started explaining, but then a red and black boy suddenly landed on the roof and somersaulted right into Raven, wrapping her waist in his small arms.

Robin was surprised by his sudden intrusion, and brought out his bo-staff in defense, but Batman asked him to lower his weapon immediately.

"Damian..." the Dark Knight began unsurely, as he tried to approach his son. "That's not the Raven that you know."

"I know." The little boy replied, burying his head in her stomach. "But she's close enough."

Raven could feel the longing that the boy had for her future self, and she almost cried at its strength. Recognizing him from the memory that she just saw, she started patting his head, channeling a bit of her future self for the little boy wrapped around her.

"So he's Damian? The current Robin? He's your son?" Robin whispered to Batman, as he watched the touching scene before his eyes.

"Yes, he's the one. He was really close to Raven when she was still alive." The Dark Knight replied, his voice wavering a little at the heartbreaking sight.

Raven didn't say anything, but just continued patting his head, hoping to comfort the boy through her touch. Until finally Damian surprised her by saying:

"Okay. I think I'll be alright now."

She gave him a tight hug before finally letting him go, a small smile gracing her face.

"It's nice to see you again, Raven." He said sincerely, before turning toward his father. "But that's not why I'm here. There's been a disturbance in the outskirts of Gotham."

Batman's face suddenly became stoic as he went back to business. "What kind of disturbance?"

"Werewolves are attacking a car, and judging by the specs, it's a highly engineered vehicle, which means that this is a planned attack."

Robin let out a gasp before shouting out, "It's the T-Car! The Titans are in danger!"

"Calm down Robin." Batman ordered, turning his attention toward Raven. "Since this concerns werewolves, I'll let you handle this."

"I'll take Raven to _her._" Damian volunteered, with a serious expression on his face as well. "She's going to meet us near the site."

"Good. Picture the area in your mind and she can teleport you there." Turning toward Robin, Batman ordered in his gruff tone, "You are staying here. We still have a few more things to discuss."

The Boy Wonder wanted to say no, to protest and say that his team needed him, but he knew he couldn't. No one disobeyed Batman's orders -and that was final.

Batman looked around the group, checking if they already knew what to do. They all nodded their heads toward him, signaling that they were ready. He gave them a slight dip of his head before he gave his order.

"Go."

* * *

**A/N**

**1**: **Damian Wayne is the supposed son of Bruce Wayne with Talia Al Ghul. He became the fourth Robin and something tragic happened to him in Batman, Inc. 8.**

**2 : The Lazarus Pit is an area in which the League of Assassins dump dead bodies and they come back to life.**

**3 : The Tim referred to here is Tim Drake, or the third Robin, or Red Robin. The event being talked about here is the Death in the Family crossover between Red Hood and the Outlaws and the current Teen Titans team. (Red Hood and the Outlaws #15-16 and Teen Titans #15-16)**

**So yeah, I am so sorry for the delay. Like I said, things have been pretty busy this past month. I was supposed to post this before Christmas, but oh well. I hope this is a nice post-Christmas gift for everyone! Actually, I should have posted this chapter last night, but for some reason I couldn't log in to fanfiction, so blame the site for the delay, not me! =))**

**I guess some good news is in order, which is that I'll be posting the next chapter real soon! Like today or tomorrow : D It's already 60% written so you guys won't have to wait too long for it! And I'm not sure if this is good news for you guys or not, but I'm bringing in one more member of the Batfamily in the next chapter. We've already met Damian, the fourth Robin, and we'll be meeting the mysterious "she" person in Chapter 5. Which is probably going to be the start of a new page for me in fanfiction writing. After finishing this story (which I have a feeling would be soon *gasp*) I might give the dark Robin theme a rest, and go with DCU crossovers, as well as a couple of crossovers from TV shows like The Following and Hannibal. And maybe some X-Men crossovers too. So yeah I hope you guys will be excited to hear that : **

**And thank you for all of your reviews, new and old! Welcome back you guys and I hope you are enjoying the story so far : D. I'm sorry not much Nightwing in this chapter, but I promise he's gonna play a big role in the next one! And anyway, for your replies! : D**

**acrobats they tumble : Thanks for the review! I think she isn't going to tell them what happened in Nevermore with Nightwing. It's actually my fault that the other Titans are really taking a back seat in these chapters, but they'll be more participative and active in Chapter 6, so I hope you'll stay tuned for that :)**

**koryandrs : Sorry about that! I really just squeeze fanfiction writing in my time so I don't have that much strength to check on my writing and stuff. Tee hee. : **

**TheDreamChaser : I don't know if you'll be happy, but I'm gonna add a couple of more characters from the DC New 52 universe so yay I guess : ))**

**Enigmatic Nocturne : I'm sorry. : (( It will all be revealed soon though! So I hope you stick around for that : )**

**Red X : We'll just have to find out and see. : Tee hee. Thanks for your review!**

**Snow Blind Raven : Thanks for your review! I hope you liked this chapter. : D**

**electrickpanda : Hello to you too! I am glad you liked Nightwing in this. Don't worry, he'll be center stage with his obsessive love next chapter. Tee hee : **

**discb : Hello again! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapters so far and I hope you have enjoyed this chapter too!**

**Eby Mikaelson : Red Hood is coming in Chapter 6, so you can come back for that chapter. Haha. I hope my short back story was somewhat accurate. This is more of the New 52 version, I guess. : ))**

**juniperfalcon17 : Hello kababayan! Thank you and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! : D**

**itsjustRAE : Oh dear you are too kind! Huhu I teared up in your review! I am glad that you feel the Nightwing-Rae connection, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter even if it's mostly dialogue and revelations. : D**

**mojoboy31 : Hi! I am honored by your review : Well, it wasn't my intention to make it a triangle, I just wanted to show that Robin already had a special place in his heart for Raven, even before the events in Number 1 Zero, just to make sure that his crazy, obsessive love is founded upon something. So yeah. I hope that made sense! : ))**

**micility : I'm sorry! Here is the update! I hope it is to your liking! **

**1m4g1n3 dr4g0ns : Hello again and thank you so much for the review! You always had a way of touching my heart tee hee. I am glad that you like Raven as a character, and that there is a difference between her and herself in Number 1 Zero so yay! That was really what I was going for. And you got the contrast between Robin and Nightwing too so I am glad that that comes across. Huhu. Just curious, who is that favorite character that I'm making you hate? I'm sorry for that though! : (( But I hope you don't hate them too much. :|**

**And that is all my replies! I hope you are all having or have had a wonderful Christmas with your family, loved ones and friends. I love you all and I bid you a good night! Please accept my kind-of late Christmas gift to you all 3 : D **

**Love,**

**Psychic soul / Kate-Kane **


	5. Cochise, Part I

**COCHISE**

**Chapter 5**

"_I've been watching  
While you've been coughing  
I've been drinking life  
While you've been nauseous  
And so I drink to health  
While you kill yourself  
And I've got just one thing  
That I can offer_

_Go on and save yourself_  
_And take it out on me_  
_Go on and save yourself_  
_And take it out on me, yeah"_

_-__Cochise, Audioslave_

* * *

Raven and Damian landed on an empty rooftop somewhere in the outskirts of Gotham. It was well into the night, and they could see that the city was slowly beginning its slumber. Most people were already sound asleep in their homes, safely tucked away in their beds. But for this group of heroes, the night had only just begun.

From where they were standing, they could already hear the sounds of the reported attack on the T-Car by a pack of werewolves, and they knew that they had to act fast. Right at that very moment, a girl of black and red landed on their rooftop, and headed straight for the two of them.

She was just a few feet away from them when she stopped cold in her tracks, looking straight at the girl from the past. "My God, Raven..." she blurted out, awed at the sight of the empath.

"Yup Batwoman, it's her." Damian replied, looking straight at the red caped crusader.

"Batwoman." Raven said, staring intently at the woman before her. "I know Batwoman in this future?" She asked in disbelief as she looked straight at the beautiful vigilante just to prove that she was really there. Batwoman. The one-woman army against the many covens that secretly existed in Gotham City; the girl with a black cowl that framed her white face, and kept her bright red hair; the vigilante who wore a black suit, with a red bat symbol on her chest, red boots, red gloves and a red belt around her waist. Her red and black cape fluttered in the wind, making her seem like she was exuding power and demanded respect.

"Yeah, we knew each other." The Red Knight said with a smirk. "We were close. We were both in charge of keeping the mystical side of the world in order for your lover boy's plans on world domination to succeed." Batwoman replied, walking closer to the two heroes.

"So that was my role as his wife? To take care of all the mystical evils that this world was holding?" Raven asked as she tried to process the information being revealed to her.

"Yeah. Defeating your father, the inter-dimensional demon conqueror, put you pretty high up on the mystical food chain. High enough that most of these creatures respected you and treated you like their queen. Werewolves, vampires, lizard monsters, you know, all those ugly things. It was my sole job at first, but then you came and together, we helped keep the 13 covens in Gotham, and in other areas, at peace. But whatever brought this attack on, I have no idea what."

Raven broke her gaze from Batwoman to understand what she was trying to tell her. It did make sense that creatures of the night respected her with her half-demonic blood. But werewolves? Covens? Lizard things? Here in Gotham City? She never imagined them to be true, well not in this dimension at least. And yet here she was, seven years into the future where she was the supposed leader of them all.

Just then, another vision appeared right in her mind, blocking out all her senses to the outside world. For a moment, she was once again brought to a memory that was not quite her own, but one that she saw from her very own eyes.

* * *

She saw herself approaching her husband, Nightwing, as he sat in their dining table in their penthouse suite in Bludhaven. Their glass walls reflected the sun that was slowly setting in the city, giving a dark red hue to their surroundings. His back was hunched on their clear glass dining table, his costumed body leaning back on their sleek, silver chairs. He was looking through some crime scene photos, which were troubling his maskless face.

"What's wrong Richard?" she heard herself say as she stood right next to him.

He looked dazed and surprised as he turned to her, as if he had no idea she was there. "Oh sorry." He blurted out absentmindedly. "It's just that I can't wrap my head around these crimes in Gotham. They're too gruesome for a regular street gang, but they've been increasing greatly in number over the past few months."

He showed one of the photos to Raven and she too was shocked by what she saw. A very bloody corpse of a man was on the photo, with his shoulder mangled off from his body. He looked like a business man from the remnants of the white polo and khaki pants that he wore. His face was contorted in a perpetual state of agony, as if what had occurred to him was just unbearable for him to endure. She continued looking at the other photos, and they all consisted of different people but in the same bloodied and mangled state as the first image. If Raven was not an inter-dimensional half demon who had seen hell herself, she would be aghast by the pictures she saw before her. But luckily she was, and she knew exactly what kind of foul beings could do such things.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but we are probably dealing with a rogue pack of werewolves in Gotham City." She heard herself say as she gave back the photos to her husband.

Nightwing stared at her incredulously, as if what she was saying was beyond comprehension. But giving another look at the images, he could see why she believed it to be so. The way the bodies were attacked was too primal, too feral to be caused by ordinary men. And it was Gotham, after all. With their variety of villains and psychopaths, he shouldn't be surprised that the occult decided to join in as well.

"Well, I think they would pose a threat to the organization, especially since we are not really specially equipped to handle such threats." Nightwing mumbled, racking his brain for a solution to this problem. "Although there is one crime fighter, her name is Batwoman, who is really the one who deals with these kinds of things. There must be something going on with the occult world which is why she's having a hard time controlling the creatures of the night."

Raven felt her lips curve into a smile, pleased to see that she could actually be of use to this corporation for once. She placed a hand on her husband's shoulder as she said, "I'll be the one to fix this, Richard."

Her husband instantly spun his head toward the empath at his side. "What?!" he asked in disbelief.

"I said I'll be the one to take care of this. This is right in my wheelhouse. You know, half-demon who defeated her inter-dimensional conqueror of a father. If anyone is well-equipped to deal with these kinds of problems, it's me." She gently placed her hands over his own, and eased the crime scene photos out of his hands and onto the table. "Don't worry your pretty little head about this anymore. I'll take care of everything." She leaned down over him to give him a soft kiss on his forehead, assuring him that she could handle it. Nightwing wrapped his arms around her protectively, not wanting to place his wife in that kind of danger, but also knowing that she was the perfect person for the job. He let out a sigh, showing his reluctance, but the soft smile on his face said that it was alright with him. Raven gave a smile of her own, secretly thanking Batman for leading them into these cases. Now all she had to worry about was the associate that the Dark Knight was going to introduce her to - Batwoman. She could only hope that they could work together to control Gotham's occult underworld, even if it meant working for Nightwing's corporation.

* * *

"Raven."

"Hey, Raven."

"RAVEN!"

Damian's voice shouting out her name snapped her out of her reverie. The vision faded from her mind, and she was once again standing with the current Robin and the Batwoman. She placed a hand above her head, trying to understand what had just happened.

"You okay?" Batwoman asked worriedly, placing an arm on her shoulder. "You blacked out on us for a second there."

"I..." Raven slowly blurted out. "I think I had another vision."

"Vision?" Damian asked worriedly.

"It's like I can see my future self's memories right before my eyes. But they are triggered whenever I'm with someone to whom she was close to before. First, it happened with Batman, and now it happened with you."

"What did you see in your vision?" Batwoman inquired.

"Just me and Nightwing talking. Basically about him giving me the job of queen of the underworld freaks." She shook her head weakly, as if trying to rid her mind of these thoughts. "But that's not what's important now. We have to stop the attack on the T-Car and we have to stop it now." Her voice held a sudden urgency, bringing them all back to the emergency in their hands.

"You're right." Batwoman said, and then looked straight at Damian. "Go back to your dad and tell him we might need a little back-up. We are going to try and disperse the werewolves now."

"But I can be your backup!" Damian volunteered enthusiastically - too enthusiastic for a boy who was about to face a pack of angry werewolves.

Raven bent to his level, placing a hand atop his head and gently reasoned with him. "We know that, but we are not going to risk your safety against those werewolves. They are feral creatures who will not have mercy for a brave boy like you."

"I don't need their mercy." Damian pouted, crossing his arms together.

They were all surprised when suddenly; Raven wrapped her arms around the little Robin before her, holding him tightly. "I know. But we need **you** to be okay."

Damian's only response was to wrap his own arms around her as well, saying a soft "Okay." He pulled away to give her a look that meant so much without any words, before finally disappearing from the rooftop.

"That's exactly what Raven would have done." Batwoman commented, obviously touched by the scene as she silently watched.

Raven stood up from her position, and turned to face the Red Knight. "Well, I am her, and yet not her at the same time."

Batwoman let out a chuckle before turning her back toward the empath. "Enough of the psychobabble. We have work to do."

* * *

Batwoman and Raven came into the fray and saw the chaos that was ensuing in the ground below. A pack of werewolves were viciously attacking the T-Car, leaving the Titans trapped and without a chance of escape. They were easily breaking through the car doors and it would only be a matter of time before they finally destroyed the T-Car, leaving the Titans defenseless.

"Okay here's the plan. We both go down there and just show ourselves to the pack. Hopefully they'll respect us both enough to leave the team alone and we won't have to resort to fighting them." Batwoman explained in a rush, as she stood near the ledge of the building, getting ready to jump off.

"You really think that they'll just stop just because we say so?" Raven asked.

"It's what they're supposed to do. It's us. They have no choice but to follow what we say." Her heels were about to leave the concrete of the building before Raven placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. The empath gave her a small smile, before they were both engulfed in her dark energy, disappearing into the night.

* * *

The Titans were afraid for their lives as the werewolves kept on attacking their defenseless T-Car. Even if they wanted to go out and face the menacing werewolves, they weren't even given the chance as they ruthlessly destroyed the car. It would only take a matter of moments before it was totally destroyed and they were exposed to be torn apart by these horrible monsters. Just when they lost all hope of getting out of their predicament alive, a black raven suddenly appeared out of nowhere, telling them that their teammates have come to save them. But to their surprise, they saw Raven and a woman clad in black and red, staring defiantly at the pack of werewolves.

"Stand down, everyone. I repeat, stand down." the other woman said in an authoritative voice. The werewolves instantly ceased their attacks on the defenseless T-Car, turning their attention toward her.

"Abbott, what is the meaning of this?" she asked again, with a tinge of irritation in her voice.

"We are sorry, Batwoman. But we received direct orders to attack the intruders." The leader of the pack replied as he approached the two heroes. Looking at Raven, he bowed his head low as he said, "It is an honor to meet you once again, my Queen."

"Uhmm.. It's good to see you too..?" Raven replied unsurely, looking up to the woman beside her for answers.

"I told you, this was your department. You were the queen of the mystic underworld. You're royalty to them." She sent the time-displaced teen a lopsided smirk before turning her attention back to the werewolf.

"But why was I not informed about this attack? Who gave you this order?"

Suddenly, another black bird came toward the group, this time emerging from the sky. When it finally descended to the ground, the magic disappeared to reveal Nightwing, smirking charmingly at them.

"I did." He said with even more authority than the other woman's voice. He sent the pack of werewolves away, and they instantly disappeared into the night.

"Nightwing." She ground out. "What are you doing here?"

"What else do you think, Batwoman?" he asked condescendingly, finally revealing the mysterious woman's name to the other Titans, "I'm here for my wife."

Her eyes went wide behind her cowl, shock clearly evident on her face. "You can't mean- You can't do that! Are you crazy? Do you want to completely destroy the time stream?!" she shouted out.

"Why not? I want my wife back more than anything. Don't you think I'd take this chance? She's standing right there! All I have to do is to perform a little magic and I will finally have my wife back! You will get your friend back! Don't you want that?"

"But if you do that, the time stream will be destroyed. There will be no Raven in the past. You will be destroying the very fabric of time and space! You will destroy this present world!"

"The world has already been destroyed! It was gone the day that she died!" he paused for a moment, trying to reel in his emotions after that outburst. "But I'm going to set things right. I'm going to bring her back to me and you won't be able to stop me." Nightwing snapped back, as dark tendrils of power started erupting from him, as a result of the raw emotions that he was feeling. Raven could feel its sheer intensity of his emotions, and was helpless on their onslaught against her psyche. She had no idea what they were arguing about, which troubled her greatly because it was clearly about her.

Their argument suddenly erupted into a whole new level when he sent dark tendrils of power straight for Batwoman. She only smirked and expertly leapt out of their way, allowing them to fall to the ground and miss their target. Before Nightwing realized what was going on, she was already in front of him, her fist connecting to his beautiful face.

"You really think I won't be able to stop you? I took on Batman for crying out loud. (1) I am not afraid of you—or anything for that matter." She said proudly, as she waited for the dark tyrant to get up off the floor.

He slowly got up on his two feet as he glared at the Red Knight from his mask. "What is wrong with you? Don't you want Raven back? Can't you see that this is for us all? I'm not doing this just for myself! I'm doing this for you, for everyone who grieved her loss. Don't you want her back?!" he shouted out, releasing another wave of dark energy, which she also expertly avoided.

"You know I miss her more than anything." Batwoman suddenly said, as she stood a safe distance away from Robin, her voice much serious than before. "But this isn't the way to bring her back. Do you really think she'd want you to destroy reality just for her?" She threw a couple of batarangs toward Nightwing, which infuriated him even more. His face was contorted into an expression of feral rage now. And the sight brought fear into everyone who saw it - the Titans, the werewolves, even Batwoman and Raven. And they knew that was not a good sign.

The dark tyrant let out a loud shout before sending a powerful energy attack toward her. Batwoman could only stand in shock, without a way to deflect or avoid the dark energy. She honestly thought that she was gone for good. She closed her eyes, mentally preparing herself for the attack, but strangely enough, it never came. When she did open them once again, she saw a black barrier, blocking Nightwing's attack from her. She was surprised to find the younger Raven placing a shield over her, protecting her from the powerful assault.

Nightwing saw this and in shock, he stopped attacking Batwoman, and turned his attentions toward his wife. "Raven..." he breathed out in shock.

"No, don't you Raven me." She replied, with a stern voice as well. "Not until you tell me what is going on here. What are the both of you arguing about? I have a right to know, since it is about me, and you have been debating about it all this time without even telling me what the heck you're even arguing about!" Her voice suddenly turned into a shout as her powers left her body and attacked the surrounding area.

The Titans winced at the damage that the both of them were causing. If no one stopped the two birds soon, they were going to destroy the entire city block.

"He's going to use you to bring the future Raven back, making your 18-year old body to 25, and infusing all your memories as well. But of course, that means that he will be keeping you here in this time." Batwoman explained in a rush, as she stood beside Raven.

"But... but that would mean... that I wouldn't be able to go back in time... and there will be a missing Raven from the time stream." She added, quickly understanding the gravity of the situation.

"Which will effectively destroy the space-time continuum and will greatly change the reality that we have right now." Batwoman concluded, looking toward Nightwing. "But I don't think he gives a damn about that."

"ENOUGH!" The dark tyrant suddenly shouted out, grabbing everyone's attention toward him. "I am tired of your useless, circular arguments! Raven is coming with me. I will decide what fate befalls upon her. She is my wife and _she belongs to me_." Finally ending his speech in a menacing tone, Nightwing suddenly spread his hands out, sending out bursts of dark energy toward the Titans and Batwoman. Raven could only watch in horror as the black tendrils of raw power grabbed each of her teammates, even the Red Knight, and held them high up in the air.

"I am tired of all of your insubordination. But I am feeling a bit generous so I am going to make you a deal." Nightwing turned his gaze toward her, with a devilish smile dancing on his lips. "I can capture them all and send them into prison for going against me, and in turn endangering Gotham city as well, or you can come with me peacefully and I will let them go."

Raven could only gasp at what her future husband was saying. What was she supposed to do? Was she going to offer herself to the evil master, which will make her destroy the space-time continuum or will she risk her friends' lives for the greater good? None of those options sounded like the right one to make, which was why she was thankful when Batwoman gave her a third option.

"Raven, don't! Just wait!" she barely cried out, as her dark restraints were slowly choking her.

"Wait for what?" Nightwing curiously asked. He got his answer soon enough as a dark purple batarang suddenly sliced through the night sky and cut through the dark tendril that was imprisoning Batwoman. The energy dissipated, allowing the Red Knight to fall to the ground, sending a few batarangs to the other Titans, freeing them from their binds as well.

Raven looked around for the source of the first batarang and saw Robin land gracefully at her side. "Sorry I'm late. Are you alright?" he asked with his trademark, boyish grin. She couldn't help the fluttering in her chest as a reaction to his charms, but she simply said that she was fine, and turned toward the ongoing battle before them.

"What? How? That's impossible! How can your batarangs cut through my dark energies?" Nightwing asked in shock.

"Because Raven was the one who gave me these. _Your Raven._" Batwoman replied with a smirk. "She did it as a precaution, just in case when things got out of hand, when _you _got out of hand, which is happening right now."

Nightwing growled out in frustration, at how he was manipulated once again. He couldn't stop the rage that was coursing through his veins. He began focusing his energies, ready to send a powerful attack to the group- one that was so powerful, it was enough to destroy the entire city. "Do you think that alone will let you win? Ha! Nothing can keep me from my Raven." He turned his attention toward the dark empath, and smoldered her with his dark and sensual gaze. "You will have no choice but to come to me. I will claim you forcefully if I have to. And don't even bother trying to hide from me. _I will find you Raven, and I will take you._" He said the last part in such a menacing tone that Raven couldn't help but feel her blood run cold in her veins.

Raven could feel the strong surge of emotion and power radiating off of him, as if he was building up on an assault that could defeat them all with just one blow. And she knew that she needed to do something before he unleashed the attack upon them all.

She stood before the group, protecting her teammates against Nightwing's attack, magic pooling in her own hands as well. "If you are going to hit the Titans, then you are going to get through me first." Raising one of her hands, she told the dark tyrant before her, "You may be missing your wife dearly, but you can't do what you wish. Keeping me in this time would create irreparable damage to the time-space continuum, which would alter the future so greatly, that there would be no way to predict how it would change. You may treat me as your wife, but I am not your wife yet. I am the eighteen-year old Raven and no one, _no one_ owns me but myself! I am not yours, I am not my father's, I am my own woman, and I say we are leaving now!" Using the dark energy in her hands, she encased herself and her teammates in her soul-self before turning to a raven, and flying off into the sky, escaping the _Master's _wrath.

Nightwing was dejected by what had occurred, which made his power disappear from his fingertips. He slowly approached the Red Knight as he watched Raven leave with her teammates. When they were finally out of sight, Batwoman glared at the man beside her.

"Really Dick? You're willing to destroy the whole space-time continuum just to bring her back?" she asked condescendingly, wondering why she still agreed to work for his corporation.

"I have no choice Kate (2)." He replied with much sadness in his voice. "Wouldn't you do everything you could just to bring back the woman that you loved? (3)?"

Batwoman paused for a moment, knowing that he tapped a very sensitive topic. But she simply let out a breath and gave her answer. "Look Dick, I understand where you're coming from. I really do." She admitted truthfully. "But there are just some things that are out of our hands. You may be the sole dictator of this world, and have everyone under your thumb, but there are a lot of things that are still above you. The laws of time and space, the world..." she trailed off, just to look straight into Nightwing's masked eyes. "You may have conquered the darkness of the world, learned how to control it, but there are just things that you have no command over. Some things are just meant to be, Dick. And we must let things unravel as they should." With one last glance, she finally disappeared into the night, leaving Nightwing with the destruction that he had caused.

Minutes passed as he stood alone in the cold, Gotham night. "I will prove you wrong, Kate." He mumbled defiantly, after a few moments. "I will prove you all wrong. I am going to bring her back. _No matter what the cost._"

* * *

**A/N : I am particularly happy with this chapter, I don't know why. Tee hee. Oh and I suppose most of you don't know who Batwoman is, but basically she's the (soon-to-be) part of the Batfamily that deals with the occult Gotham underworld, meaning werewolves, ghosts, monsters, etc. Here's a picture just in case you want to see : uploads / original / 14 / 145293 / **

**I'm sorry if she's not so popular, but I thought that she'd be the perfect character to put in since she deals with monsters and stuff, and Raven being the half-demon who beat her demon-conqueror dad kind of meant that she'd be the head honcho of all these beings, so I thought it would be the perfect way of including her and giving her a more active role in the corporation. (And I may just be a teensy-bit biased cause I just love her so much :)) ) And just in case it wasn't clear, she works for the organization, like Batman. So if Batman has total jurisdiction over Gotham, then she has total jurisdiction over the occult underworld. Which was why she was so mad at the start that she had no idea why the werewolves were attacking the T-Car. And (2): her real name is Kate Kane. She's Bruce Wayne's cousin according to Batwoman #25. (3): She is also a proud lesbian, who received heat earlier this year because DC executives didn't allow her to get married to her fiancee' not because they're against same-sex marriage, but because they're just against marriage in general. (I know, f*ck logic right?)**

**And yes no Titans again this chapter, but I promise they'll be in the next chapter, because it'll focus on Starfire and her New 52 self. Yay! (Or nay?)**

**I hope Raven wasn't too OOC with her scene with Damian and her empowered woman self. If she was then please do tell me in a review.**

**And I am so sorry that I didn't realize that other people don't really celebrate Christmas! Sorry, totally slipped my mind. Next time, I'll just stick to Happy Holidays.**

**And now for your replies:**

**TheDreamChaser : I'm sorry if its not Cass or Babs. :( I want to put them in too but Batwoman was just perfect for the whole occult dark thing :(( Maybe next story? :(**

**ahsokalo : Hello! Thank you for the review! I wonder why fanfiction keeps on doing that to you :( Anyway I do appreciate the review so thank you! :)**

**koryandrs : Thank you friend! That means a lot coming from you. Hihi :)**

**acrobats they tumble : Thank you! I loved writing the Damian-Raven relationship too. :) But sadly, this may be the last chapter wherein I can squeeze them in, but hopefully I'll still find a way. :)) We'll go into the Titans more next chapter I promise. And yeah thank you for the review!**

**ReMoor : Thank you! I hope you got to read the other chapters too! :)**

**discb : I'm sorry if Damian is too OOC. I was inspired by this panel in Batman, Inc #8 where he tells Dick that they were the best, no matter what anyone thinks. And from that panel I just made all of this sweet things. Plus the fact that I miss him. Huhu.**

**Snow Blind Raven : Thank you! So happy you reviewed too! :)**

**1m4g1n3 dr4g0ns : Thank you! Sorry about the Christmas thing. I'm glad you think that Batman is more himself last chapter, because I thought he was too chummy cause you know, he's like the king of brooding and all. And it makes my heart swell that you liked Nightwing so much. Huhu. (Though I'm not sure what your opinion of him is now :)) ) He's one of the main stars of this show and I am glad that his complexity in character comes across well. So thank you! And for Beast Boy, well , he might have a change of heart, I'm still deciding on that, but that's after everything is settled with Starfire. **

**So there, just in case I don't get to greet you guys, Happy New Year! Happy Holidays! Please leave a review if you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Stuff yourselves with lots and lots of food and holiday cheer! I love you all and have a nice day! :D **


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